[Media-watch] "I have seen Iraq horrors worse than the media reports" - Huddersfield Daily Examiner - 9/12/2004

[Julie-ann Davies]

http://ichuddersfield.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0330features/tm_objectid=14961547&method=full&siteid=50060&headline=-i-have-seen-iraq-horrors-worse-than-the-media-reports--name_page.html

'I have seen Iraq horrors worse than the media reports'



Dec 9 2004



By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner



AN IRAQI doctor who risked his own life treating people in the war zone has 
spoken of the horrors he witnessed.

Dr Salam Ismael, 29, addressed a crowd at Huddersfield Town Hall about the 
hardships his people have faced since the outbreak of war in Iraq in March 
2003.

He spoke at length about the siege of Fallujah where he set up a field 
hospital to treat the wounded.

When heavy fighting broke out in Fallujah between American forces and Iraqi 
insurgents Dr Salam left his home in Baghdad and immediately set off for the 
trouble spot.

"The horrors and nightmares I have seen are so much worse than what the 
media report," he said.

"At one point cluster bombs were being dropped and my team and I literally 
had to collect bodies and try any way possible to put them back together.

"And the conditions for medical treatment were hard as well.

"We were doing major operations under local anaesthetic and stitching people 
using a needle and thread for clothing.

"I did not think about the risk to my own safety. I don't think any of the 
doctors did - we just got on with it."

The doctor, whose parents remain in Baghdad working as teachers, was invited 
to speak by the British Medical Association six months ago and has remained 
in the UK since talking about his experiences.

He is returning to Fallujah tomorrow to set up a hospital for the 50,000 
refugees in the region.

He said: "I know what to expect because I have already seen everything. I 
know how bad it will be now in the area.

"A lot of the reporting of the conflict has been tainted.

"If people in the UK want to help the people in Iraq they need to support 
the British and American journalists who are telling it how it really is on 
the ground.

"But very few are doing that."

Dr Ismael is hoping the links he has made with medical students at Leeds and 
Newcastle Universities while he has been in the UK can now be passed on to 
students in Iraq.

"The students at both universities were brilliant. I told them about the 
plight we were in and next day boxes of medical books were donated."

Huddersfield Stop the War group invited Dr Ismael to speak. Organiser June 
Jones thanked him for attending.